Improvement in insulators for telegraphs



A. B. ELY.

Telegraph-Wire Insulator;

Patented July 24, .1866.

I 2211 2258 es.- 5

lnvvdorf 4 /f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. B. ELY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN INSULATORS FOR TELEGRAPHS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,542, dated July 24, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. B. ELY, of the city of Boston, county of Sufl'olk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Im provement in Insulators for Telegraph-Wires; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a view of a cross-arm with my improvement at each end attached to a telegraph-pole; and Fig. 4 is a modification of my improvement.

As ordinarily constructed, the telegraphinsulators in damp weather permit a film of moisture to extend from the hook that supports the wire to the pole, and this materially diminishes the volume of electricity and renders communication on long circuits uncertain; and it is the object of my invention to remove this difficulty, more especially in using the cheap pin-hook insulator.

My invention may be applied with equal facility to the common wooden bracket plugged into the pole, or to cross-arms secured to its side in any proper manner.

In the middle of the bracket A, near its outer end, I sink a hole, B, of suitable dimensions, in the center of which I insert the pin hook 0, having a complete coating, D, of hard rubber or gutta-percha, glass, porcelain, or any other proper insulating material, upon which a screw-thread, E, is cut to hold it firmly in the bracket. On the lower portion of this I place a disk, F, of rubber, wood, or any suitable material, having a flange, G, for its perimeter. This flange may extend on both sides of the disk, as shown at g in Fig. 4, or the disk may be used with effect with a flange on one side only, or,indeed, without any flange at all; but it must be so placed on the hook as that at all times its lower edge shall not be materially above the edge of the hole in the bracket, thus operating as a means of inclosing, or nearly so, the open hole or chamber; and it must be of a diameter sufficiently less than the hole, to leave a clear space between its perimeter and the bracket. A distance of a quarter of an inch, for example, would be found sufficient for all weathers.

Around the hole B in the bracket I place a flange, H, near or at the edge, and this flange may be of thin sheet metal or any cheap material, or it may be formed on the bracket itself. When the disked pin-hook is used this flange may be left ofl, but it is preferable as described.

The insulator thus constructed will in the dampest weather, even when long continued, effectually prevent the formation of any continuous film of moisture from the pin-hook to the pole, for whatever moisture accumulates on or around the hook will drop from the under edge of the flange on the disk without passing to the bracket, and the flange on the bracket will cause the moisture there accumulated to drop without passing to the hook. The result may be measurably attained without using the flanges; but I prefer to use 7 them.

It is obvious that in applying my invention 0 the cross-arm K to support two lines of wires it is only necessary to duplicate the parts and place one on each end of the arm.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The flanged disk on the insulating-hook, when constructed and arranged, in reference to the hole in the bracket, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the bracket and hole with the pinhook and disk, arranged with or without flanges, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

A. B. ELY. 

